


Once Upon A December

by mxstyassasxin



Series: 24 for my 24th [13]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Gen, I'm Sorry, Memories, Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:46:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24294562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mxstyassasxin/pseuds/mxstyassasxin
Summary: Work No. 13 of my birthday oneshots inspired by Once Upon a December from Anastasia.Harry has been putting off sorting Grimmauld Place out until Hermione and Ginny get fed up of walking in on each other at the Burrow. While clearing it out, he finds a curious silver chest underneath Sirius' bed.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Series: 24 for my 24th [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1736755
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	Once Upon A December

Harry had been putting this off for months. The war had ended in May and, for a while, there was plenty to distract him while he regrouped at the Burrow with the Weasleys and Hermione. First, he’d been needed for pretty much every trial at the Wizengamot. He’d then helped McGonagall get Hogwarts ready for the beginning of the school year. Then, when Ginny and Hermione had gone back for their final year, he and Ron, along with Neville and a few others from the DA, had begun their Auror training. It was a hectic three months but then, once the day-to-day job began, it actually left quite a bit of downtime, unless they were on an active fieldwork case, of which they’d so far only had one. The rest of the time accounted for paperwork and patrols, witness interviews and interrogations as well as investigations that usually resulted in simple arrests if they didn’t have to be passed on to more senior Aurors.

Yet, even with most of his evenings and weekends free, he had not set a single foot inside Number 12, Grimmauld Place since the morning of their Polyjuice infiltration of the Ministry. The stupid, half-baked plan that went so awry that Ron ended up splinched and Grimmauld Place compromised.

It had taken a week of the Christmas break, with everyone back at the Burrow, for Hermione and Ginny to put their feet down. Harry and Ron had agreed that they were absolutely terrifying when they ganged up on them like that. But they understood, of course, because there were only so many times you could be walked in on with your girlfriend by one, or both, of your best friends – one of whom happened to be your girlfriend’s brother. Or, in Ron’s case, being walked in on by your best mate and your sister.

And so it was, that two days prior to Christmas Eve, Harry stepped back into Number 12 Grimmauld Place. He was accompanied by the majority of the clan, obviously - Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Arthur and George. Neville and Luna even joined them, although Harry suspected that their sense of friendship was also accompanied by a curiosity about the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.

The portrait of Sirius’ mother was still present and shrieking on the hallway wall but ended up having a rather confusingly pleasant conversation with Luna. At one point in the morning, Harry found Neville sat on the threadbare carpet in the drawing room, staring at the Black Family Tree covering the walls.

“Nev? You alright there?”

“Yeah… Yeah. Did you know it had updated? I should have known it would because my Gran’s does the same.”

“What do you mean?”

Neville pointed at a spot on the wall. “That’s where you should be, as Sirius’ chosen heir. There’s a place on there, ready for you if you wanted to restore it properly.”

Sure enough, there, beneath the scorch mark that Sirius had pointed out to him, was a new portrait frame, stitched with golden thread. Harry stared at it silently for a while, imagining his face in that golden frame surrounded by the faces of Black after Black after Black. Slytherin to a fault until Sirius came along. His image would sit beside Malfoy’s, but, if he restored it as Neville said he could, then it would also sit alongside Teddy and Tonks, as well as Remus by marriage. It would be a brand-new start. Those who have been and gone, framed in silver, while those who remain to change the fate of the Black lineage, framed in gold. Andromeda, Narcissa, Draco, Teddy and him. Harry.

He turned on his heel and left Neville behind in the room, failing to see or hear anything besides his feet on the crooked floorboards, only looking up when they came to a halt in front of the door he recognised as Sirius’ room. He reached a hand out, holding his palm an inch away from the mottled wood, unsure whether he should, or even whether he could. But, inhaling deeply, he made contact with the door, and it swung inwards under his touch. As soon as he stepped across the threshold, the heavy drapes at the window swept open, illuminating the dust floating around the room.

He sank down into the armchair in the corner, facing the Gryffindor-themed bed, and hung his head between his knees, hands clasped at the back of his neck. This was exactly why he had been putting off fully acknowledging his inheritance. Kreacher was still at Hogwarts, so he was one less issue to resolve, but the ownership of a magical house that had been keyed into a different lineage for centuries? He didn’t need Hermione to tell him that taking it on was going to get complicated. Especially when there were other heirs, _blood heirs_ , that he would want to recognise. And with that, he knew he would have to get Gringotts involved, and the Goblins definitely still hated him. He was sure many of them would wish him dead if they could. But he would have no hope in navigating the various Black vaults without their assistance.

As he lifted his head to roll the stress out of his neck, he caught the light glinting on something underneath the bed. Curious, he sank out of the chair and onto his knees, crawling on all fours until he was able to reach the metallic object and pull it out to study it.

It was some sort of silver chest, the metal hammered meticulously to decorate the sides and the curved lid. On the top of the lid it had been formed into a lion’s head, complete with fierce mane and teeth. There were feet attached to the base of the small chest as well. One paw in each corner. It was small enough to sit safely on his lap while he lifted the lid open, a familiar soft, silvery glow bathing his face as the pensive inside was revealed.

He didn’t know what possessed him, whether it was the fact that the chest was moulded into a lion, or that it had been beneath Sirius’ bed, but Harry lifted the chest onto the bed and dropped his face into the swirling memories.

_“What am I meant to be saying, Padfoot. He’s your Godson.”_

Harry found himself looking at Remus as he had been during Harry’s fifth year, permanently furrowed brow included.

_“Yes, but it’s my memory.”_

_“Then why the hell don’t we just do this in front of a mirror.”_

_“Oh right. This is why you were always the brains, Mooney.”_

The image shifted slightly so that he was looking at a reflection of Remus and Sirius stood side by side.

_“Harry, I know you’re probably wondering what’s going on, but I’ve set in place the motions to make you my heir should anything happen to me.”_

_“Which it won’t, Padfoot because you’re going to be careful.”_

_“Right, Mooney. But, just in case, you’ll have found this Pensive hidden in my room. Hopefully once everything is over.”_

_“We’ve put a few of our memories in it for you, Harry. I was shocked at how little you knew of your parents when I taught you in your third year. So here are our memories, for you to view whenever you please, if for some reason we don’t make it and can’t tell you the stories ourselves in calmer times.”_

_“We love you, Harry. Always remember that.”_

Harry yanked his head out of the Pensive before the next memory could begin automatically, wiping away the tears that were already streaming down his face. He didn’t know if he was ready for this. But then again, he didn’t know if he’d ever be ready for this.

Taking a few deep breaths, he returned to the memories that Remus and Sirius had left him, the silver strands swirling around him until he landed in an unfamiliar living room decorated for Christmas.

The first people he saw were Sirius and his father lounging on the sofa in front of him, watching something behind where Harry had landed. He fixated on the happiness shining all over his dad’s face for a moment, the love in the glint of his eyes telling Harry that it was his mother who stood behind him. And, sure enough, when he turned away from his dad, there was his mother, Lily, the lights from the Christmas tree bouncing off her fiery red hair.

As she spun around, swaying to the Christmas carol she was humming, Harry realised that she was holding him in her arms. A tiny, baby Harry, all rosy cheeks and huge smile. Wide, green eyes staring up in awe at his mother as she sang and swayed with him to the tune.

He was witnessing the only Christmas they had been able to have as a family and it looked as though it had been so happy. The living room in the house at Godric’s Hollow was so full of joy despite the threats that lay outside these four walls thanks to the war raging around them. Harry wondered if they knew already that they would all get so caught up in it. James, Lily, Sirius and Remus. His family. Those who had always loved him and those who would be there with him at the end of it all.

He stayed as long as he possibly could in that memory, watching his mother sway to Christmas carols that she sang to him where he lay in her arms, the brightly decorated tree blinking behind her.

This time, to this memory, for the first time in months, he let his tears flow freely.


End file.
